Financial news

• The Guardian view on mortgages: the crunch is coming | Editorial

  21-06-2023 19:30
  
  Westminster is forever blowing property bubbles. What happens when they burst?Last October, the then-chair of the Conservative party, Jake Berry, declared the solution to rising energy prices was simple: “People know that when their bills arrive, they can either cut their consumption or they can … go out there and get that new job.” This week, Mr Berry disclosed his worries about rising mortgage bills, or what he termed “the mortgage bomb about to go off”, and call
  
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• I literally cannot say Imran Khan’s name on Pakistani TV – this madness has to end | Hamid Mir

  21-06-2023 15:00
  
  Whoever wins in the confrontation between the former prime minister and the army, both sides are to blame for trying to gag criticismHamid Mir is a Pakistani TV news anchor and authorI am not a big fan of Imran Khan. I have long criticised Pakistan’s former prime minister, but now it is becoming difficult to do so. There is a de facto ban on referring to him in the media, meaning we are no longer allowed to mention his name or show his picture. Pakistani TV channels are not allowed to inte
  
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• 1.4m UK mortgage holders face 20% hit to disposable income from rate hikes

  21-06-2023 14:04
  
  Expected surge in costs by 2025 likely to hit people in 30s hardest, says Institute for Fiscal Studies reportMore than 1 million households across Britain are expected to lose at least 20% of their disposable incomes thanks to the surge in mortgage costs expected before the next election, the UK’s leading economics thinktank has warned.Sounding the alarm as mortgage costs reach the highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that almost 1.4m
  
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• Bank of England must ‘create recession’ to fight high inflation; mortgage rates rise again – business live

  21-06-2023 13:33
  
  Member of Jeremy Hunt’s economic advisory council says BoE must create “uncertainty and frailty”, after UK headline inflation was unchanged at 8.7% in MayFalling prices for motor fuel led to the largest downward contribution to monthly inflation in May.Today’s inflation report shows that motor fuel prices fell by 13.1% in the year to May 2023, compared with a fall of 8.9% in April. Continue reading...
  
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• UK government debt rises above 100% of GDP for first time since 1961

  21-06-2023 13:26
  
  In blow to Rishi Sunak’s plans to cut taxes before general election, net debt reached £2.6tn at of end of MayThe UK’s total government debt pile in May reached more than 100% of annual national income for the first time since 1961 as state borrowing more than doubled in May, according to official figures.In a blow to Rishi Sunak’s plans to cut taxes before the general election, which is expected next year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said net debt reached &po
  
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• ‘There’s no way I can pay it’: Americans dread restart of student loan payments

  21-06-2023 12:00
  
  Pause on loan payments set to end in October as political fight over Biden’s forgiveness plan rages on and has been tied up in courtsMany Americans are dreading the return of interest accrual and the restarting of their monthly student loan payments as a huge political fight over Joe Biden’s debt forgiveness plan rages on.Americans have $1.635tn in federal student loan debt, held by 43.8 million borrowers. Some 26 million people applied or were automatically accepted for student debt
  
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• THG chief Matt Moulding gives up ‘golden’ share

  21-06-2023 11:57
  
  Retail group says Moulding has ‘transferred’ share that had given him power to veto hostile takeovers Matt Moulding, the founder and chief executive of the online retail platform THG, has given up his “golden” share allowing him to block any attempt to takeover the company, months after he was due to surrender it.THG – formerly known as The Hut Group and the owner of retail sites LookFantastic, Glossybox, Zavvi and Coggles – first pledged to cancel Moulding&rs
  
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• Berkeley says interest rate fears hitting sales despite buyer interest in its homes

  21-06-2023 11:05
  
  Housebuilder reports jump in annual pretax profit but says current trading suggests 20% fall in sales this yearThe housebuilder Berkeley Group has said demand from buyers for its homes has held up, although many prospective purchasers are biding their time until they get more certainty about rising interest rates.The company said it was still seeing “good levels of inquiry for well-located homes” but added that the housing market was “likely to lack urgency” until consume
  
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• There’s only one way to tackle Britain's mortgage meltdown – get the banks to cough up | John McDonnell

  21-06-2023 10:39
  
  The big five owe the public for the 2008 bailout – and they are taking in enormous profits while many homeowners and renters struggleJohn McDonnell is Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington and a former shadow chancellorAcross the country, homeowners are facing a mortgage payments crisis. They ultimately face the possibility of losing their homes. Meanwhile, the government says nothing and the banks sit on their hands, offering next to no support.But the very same banks that offer mortgages ar
  
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• Why is inflation in the UK worse than in other major economies?

  21-06-2023 10:34
  
  While the rate has fallen from its October peak of 11.1%, the figure for May remains stubbornly highUK inflation remained stubbornly high in May at 8.7% – the same as the previous month – despite a string of forecasts earlier this year predicting a sharp fall in response to tumbling energy prices.Official figures had been expected to show that the UK’s consumer prices index (CPI) eased slightly last month, to 8.4%. But unlike almost everywhere else in the world, that didn&rsquo
  
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• Axa has gone quiet after a holiday scam brought our travel plans crashing down

  21-06-2023 08:00
  
  Passports were stolen but we have waited nine months for it to respond to our claimLast year, we took a ferry from Mallorca to Barcelona. When we reached our hotel, my wife went in to see where we should park. While I was waiting in the car, a motorbike drove into it. I got out, but immediately realised this was dodgy and got back in. We then realised that her backpack, containing our passports, had been stolen. Our return home was delayed while we waited for emergency travel documents and we in
  
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• UK mortgage rates rollercoaster is the price to pay for cheap, short-term deals

  21-06-2023 07:00
  
  Borrowers who made a short-term choice after the 2008 banking crisis were lucky – current borrowers have been equally unluckyAs mortgage lending rates surge to levels not seen since the banking crisis, some borrowers are wondering whether there is something to be said for the certainty of fixing the borrowing rate for the full term of the loan.In 2007 two of the UK’s biggest lenders launched 25-year fixed-rate mortgages. They were responding to a call from the then chancellor, Alista
  
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• Billionaires and the Titanic: the allure of extreme expeditions

  21-06-2023 07:00
  
  The more adventurous of the world’s wealthiest take trips to the edge of space and Antarctica in their strideTitanic sub: latest updatesThe disappearance of the submersible en route to the wreck of the Titanic has highlighted the businesses that offer extreme expeditions – and their clienteles.Among the five people on the missing Titan submersible are two billionaires – Hamish Harding, a 58-year-old businessman who made his fortune selling private jets and holds three Guinness
  
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• UK’s best known retailers top list of firms fined £7m over pay breaches

  21-06-2023 01:01
  
  WH Smith, Marks & Spencer and Argos among more than 200 firms that failed to pay workers legal minimum wageSome of the UK’s best known retailers including WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Argos and LloydsPharmacy are at the head of a list of more than 200 companies collectively fined £7m for failing to pay the legal minimum wage.The businesses were also forced to pay out £4.9m to about 63,000 workers left out of pocket after violations of the rules were uncovered by inspector
  
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• Macron and world leaders call on private finance to help reduce global poverty

  21-06-2023 01:01
  
  In lead up to Paris meeting on Thursday, open letter states that government loans and grants not enough to spur development‘A green transition that leaves no one behind’: world leaders release open letterPrivate finance needs to play a significant role in supporting global development and reducing poverty by offering cheaper and more flexible loans, according to French president, Emmanuel Macron, and a group of fellow world leaders.In a message that is likely to dismay many anti-pove
  
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• ‘A green transition that leaves no one behind’: world leaders release open letter

  21-06-2023 01:01
  
  Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and other international leaders address development needsWe are urgently working to deliver more for people and the planet. Multiple, overlapping shocks have strained countries’ ability to address hunger, poverty, and inequality, build resilience and invest in their futures. Debt vulnerabilities in low- and middle-income countries present a major hurdle to their economic recovery, and to their ability to make critical long-term investments.We are urg
  
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